By Bishop Grigorios of Mesaoria
Our Holy Church today commemorates Venerable Basil the Confessor, who was distinguished in the struggle against iconoclasm, the Holy Hieromartyr Proterios, who lived in the 5th century and was Patriarch of Alexandria, and of the virgin neomartyr Kyranna who sacrificed herself for Christ during the Turkish occupation.
The moving life and the martyrdom of St. Kyranna are proof, and a very didactic one for our time, that the Church, as the body of Christ, has not ceased and will never cease to give birth to Saints. Originating from a village in the Thessaloniki area, she was pious and had distinguished among her peers for her exterior and interior beauty. When she refused to succumb to the intense pressure and threats of a janissary who wanted to marry her, she was found guilty in a Thessaloniki court of allegedly promising to change her faith and become a Muslim.
In every threat, imprisonment, and torture that had been inflicted on her, Kyranna consistently responded that she was a bride of Christ and was ready to sacrifice her life for His sake.
The Saint delivered her spirit in prison on February 28, in the year 1751 AD.
Source: Church of Cyprus
